~ Greco-Roman Worship ~

Hellenism

Hellenism is a religious movement originated in Greece. This modern pluralistic religion is found around the world and has spread greatly since its modern revival. It is often considered to be a religion of spirituality and thought and has been shaped through shared belief in Hellenistic deities such as Athena, Artemis or even Dionysus as well as a shared culture of values, ritualistic and linguistic history.

Greeks that identify with this particular way of life believe in Εθνικοί Έλληνες (Ethnic Hellenes). Non-Grecian practitioners are referred to as "Hellenists." This is not to be confused with "Hellenics" which are people who worship the Greek pantheons but do not adhere to Hellenistic ideologies.

This religion works to revive and reconstruct ancient Greek religious practices and has been publicly working towards these goals since the 1990s.

Roman Polytheism

The practice of Roman Polytheism is based on the worship of the Roman gods and goddesses. In this way it is similar to the practice of Hellenism, but it does, similar to the example with Rodnovery and Heathenry, focus on the gods from only the Roman world.

Roman Polytheism is sometimes referred to as Henotheism. They are often referred to as "soft monotheists" as, while they recognize all Roman gods, they typically will only worship one in each household. In this way it is similar to the practices of a far more recognized religion, Hinduism.

This religion is one of the least practiced of all the NeoPagan religions known to our modern world but, like the rest of them, it is gaining followers as knowledge of the Pagan world becomes more known and prevalent in today's society.

History of Greco-Roman Worship

Greco-Roman worship can be traced back well before the times of the Twelve Olympians, to back when the vast majority of modern Italy, Sicily and Greece was run by Matriarchal societies. These peaceful societies were run with the belief in female superiority and were primarily agricultural. This was until a Patriarchal society invaded their lands and enforced their masculine deities on the area, making gods like Zeus and Poseidon more important to societies who had previously worshipped Diana, Athena, Artemis or Hera as their primary deities. A common way for the invading Patriarchal societies to fight the loyalty found in the Matriarchal societies towards their feminine deities was to create a link between the two cultures gods. This is how Zeus became a god with seven wives such as Hera, Demeter, Metis and Themis. By making deities like Athena and Artemis his daughters and creating the myths of their sworn chastity to their father they created a concept of submissive behavior towards men after they had, in the Matriarchal societies, often been made to act as human sacrifices and hard laborers.

This merged world would come to an end as well with the transition of Rome from a polytheistic community to a monotheistic one primarily worshipping the Christian god. While this transition was largely pushed by the Roman government it was also through works of great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle who helped turn the minds and hearts of the Roman people against the beliefs that they had held for so many centuries. This would be even further spread as the Romans conquered Greece. This would be a monumental movement for the entire world as modern Western culture finds many of its roots in the ancient Greek world.

Alexander the Great made an immense impact on the end of Polytheism and Paganism in Rome with his efforts to create a Rome dedicated to the Christian belief system. He worked to provide a bridge between Judaism and Christianity and assisted with the forced conversion of many people of Jewish belief as well as Gentiles to Christianity.

Christianity remained in Rome and Greece for hundreds of years and is still a heavily dominate religion in these areas to date with places like the Vatican existing within the borders of Italy and modern-day Rome. That being said, historically speaking no tolerance was provided for those who were caught practicing or promoting Pagan practices.

Modern Greco-Roman Worship

In the modern world of Paganism, Roman Paganism has multiple names including Religio Romana. It is based on the pre-Christian religions of Rome. It works primarily to reconstruct the ancient faith of Rome and Greece as closely as possible with as few concessions to the modern world as can reasonably be allowed. Exceptions are made in obvious was such as the lack of human sacrifice in the modern version of these ancient practices but for the most part they work to maintain the altars, deities and all together worship of the world long gone to our society.

Most Greco-Roman worships are based around the twelve Olympians, but some choose to worship other deities of the same faith such as the Primordial or Titan gods. A select few many choose to worship minor deities such as Iris, Nemesis, Adonis or Eros. Given that the actual ancient worlds of Rome and Greece were polytheistic it is not surprising to find that many Neopagans worship multiple deities. They do, however, typically worship within a specific pantheon.

There are many words considered very important to the practitioners of Greco-Roman worship. These words include "apathia" (belief that happiness comes from freedom from inner turmoil), "apeiron" (first principle, undefined and unlimited substance), "archeē" (ultimate principle, building blocks of creation), "ataraxia" (peace of mind), "epicureanism" (the highest good is pleasure and avoidance of pain) and "pantheon" (a collection of deities).

It is important to recall that there are no written sacred texts to the Greco-Roman Pagan groups, they are primarily recreating the practices of ancient religion form stories passed down by word of mouth, legend and accounts of ancient historians and writers.

Greco-Roman Deities

For more information about the various deities worshiped in the Greco-Roman subdivisions of Neopaganism, click the above button for an alphabetized list including their basic information, the areas over which they hold domain, any consorts or children of said deity and any symbols or holidays that may be connected to them!

Holidays

Feasts and festivals make up a majority of the Greco-Roman calendar. These include various holidays in dedication to particular pantheons or events as well as annual or semiannual holidays which would be dedicated to worshipping or honoring various deities.

Kalends - January (January 1)

Kalends - February (February 1)

Parentalia (February 13-21)

Anthesteria (February 19-21)

Lupercalia (February 15)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries (February 17-23)

Kalends - March (March 1)

Navigium Isidis (March 5-6)

Dionysia (March 9-16)

Liberalia (March 17)

Hilaria (March 15-28)

Quinquatrus (March 19)

Kalends - April (April 1)

Geneteria tis Romis (April 21)

Serapia (April 25)

Kalends - May (May 1)

Lemuria (May 9, 11, 13)

Thargelia (May 22-23)

Kalends - June (June 1)

Flight of Aineias (June 11)

Prometheia (June 17)

Vestalia (June 7-15)

Death of Julian (June 28)

Kalends - July (July 1)

Panathenaia (July 17-24)

Neptunalia (July 23)

Kalends - August (August 1)

Sol Indiges (August 9)

Vinalia Rustica (August 19)

Vulcanalia (August 23)

Kalends - September (September 1)

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries (September 6-12)

Apollo Campus Martius (September 23)

Kalends - October (October 1)

Thesmophoria (October 2-4)

Khalkeia (October 7)

Kalends - November (November 1)

Feastday of Julian (November 8)

Kalends - December (December 1)

Saturnalia (December 17-23)

Opalia (December 19)

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (December 25)

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